FILIPINO tennis ace Alexandra "Alex" Eala yielded to Swiss Belinda Bencic in the fourth round (round of 16), 4-6, 0-6, to exit the WTA 1000 National Bank Open in Toronto Monday morning in Manila.
Playing before another sold-out, Filipino-dominated crowd at the Sobeys Stadium Centre Court, world No. 20 Eala showed resistance especially in the first set where she held and broke Bencic's serve for a 4-4 tie.
However, world No. 14 and 10-time champ Bencic dictated the match from there.
Bencic broke back and held serve to take the first set, carrying momentum into the second frame, where the Tokyo Olympics gold medalist had Eala scrambling for balls and blasting winners in various ways.
In the sixth game, Eala battled back from 0-40 and forced a deuce but the Filipino's return went outside on the next play before Bencic finished the match with a forehand cross.
"Yeah, tough one today. I think Belinda put me in some tough situations. I think she played really well," said Eala in the post-match presser.
"I wasn't able to kind of get myself out of a certain mode. So, overall, really good week. I am super happy with the run that I've had, and, yeah, going to try recover and come back out hot, yeah."
Wrapping up the match in 1 hour and 13 minutes, Bencic, the 2015 champion of the tournament, faces Coco Gauff in the quarterfinals.
Eala saw her 7-game winning streak end but will finally get some rest after playing nine matches in 13 days, including a doubles match with Venus Williams in the first round in Toronto.
The 21-year-old kickstarted that winning run in Washington where she went on a perfect campaign for her first Tour-level title.
Moving to Toronto, where she is the No. 25 seed with a first-round bye, Eala defeated American Alycia Parks, 6-1, 4-6, 2-6, in the second round and another American Caty McNally, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, in the third.
Eala's fourth-round match showed her losing in service points and return points won.
The lefty had a 40 percent (19/48) success rate in service points won and 36 percent (16/45) in return points.
In comparison, Bencic logged 64 percent (29/45) in service points won and 60 percent (29/48) in return.
Eala will next compete at the 1000 Cincinnati Open where she is expected to be seeded anew in the tournament which will run from August 13 to 23.
